The counterattack dealt a blow to Moscow’s efforts to encircle Kyiv. But journalists visiting the enclave witnessed rampant shelling and said Russian occupiers continued to occupy parts of the city. Russian troops in Ukraine have suffered heavy casualties, including between 7,000 and 15,000 deaths since the invasion began, according to a new estimate by a senior NATO military man.
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Airstrikes and shelling by Russia have devastated much of the country’s civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. The World Health Organization said Wednesday it had confirmed 64 attacks on healthcare facilities, patients and medical workers during the nearly month-long war, killing 15 and wounding 37.
“Health systems, facilities and health workers are not a target – and should never be,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.
Such attacks are partly behind the White House allegations of war crimes by Russian troops. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, citing a “careful review” of intelligence assessments and publicly available images, said the evidence appeared conclusive, although it would need to be formally reviewed by a court. Blinken specifically pointed out Russian attacks on facilities clearly identified as civilian.
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“Putin’s forces used the same tactics in Grozny, Chechnya and Aleppo, Syria, where they increased their bombing of cities to break the will of the people,” Blinken said in a statement. “Your attempt to do this in Ukraine shocked the world again.”
Biden is expected to echo some of the same themes at meetings with NATO and Group of Seven leaders this week. The President flew to Brussels for emergency summits on Wednesday and is expected to stop in Poland on Friday.
During preparations for the meetings, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the Alliance would be deploying new combat groups to countries on its eastern flank. Stoltenberg said four groups will be deployed to Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia as part of an “immediate” response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while leaders discuss longer-term plans.
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Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Stoltenberg also called on Russia to end its “nuclear saber-rattling,” referring to suggestions by Russian leaders that nuclear weapons could be used to counter threats against Moscow. The NATO chief vowed to help Ukraine deal with possible chemical and biological attacks, but declined to give details.
“China has politically supported Russia, including by spreading blatant lies and disinformation,” he said. “Allies are concerned that China may provide material support to the Russian invasion.”
The Pentagon on Wednesday declined to rule out further US military operations in Eastern Europe to reassure allies. As a NATO member, the United States could garrison at least some of the Eastern European stations, but a senior US defense official said he has yet to share details.
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Thousands of US troops have been deployed to Poland and other eastern European countries in what has been described as “temporary” deployments, with no firm end date in sight. “I think it’s safe to assume that we’re all going to look at this in the future,” the senior defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to ground rules established by the Pentagon. “We’re just not in a position to speculate right now.”
The official said the first wave of a major aid package for Ukraine’s military was on its way and should arrive in the country “very soon”. The $800 million package approved by the Biden administration expands the scale and scope of security assistance to Ukraine, including armed “kamikaze” drones that slam into targets, thousands of anti-tank weapons and shoulder-launched missiles that can launch planes to the can crash.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking to reporters traveling with the President on Air Force One, said Biden will discuss possible new restrictions on Russian oil and gas with European partners and will also coordinate with G-7 leaders on measures to intended to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions. Sullivan said the United States would separately announce a new package of sanctions against individual Russians, including “political figures, oligarchs.”
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Beth Van Schaack, Biden’s ambassador for global criminal justice, said the government is continuing to collect information on possible war crimes in Ukraine and plans to share its findings with international partners and organizations. She said US officials are also supporting efforts by Ukraine’s attorney general’s office and civil society groups to document the events at the scene.
“It is incredibly important to shed a light on what is happening in Ukraine so that the people of Ukraine understand that the world knows what they are suffering,” she told State Department reporters.
Prosecutors in Poland, which borders Ukraine, have opened an investigation into alleged war crimes there, and the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has also announced an investigation. The United States is not a party to the International Criminal Court.
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Brian Finucane, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group who previously worked in the State Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, said it was too early to say where war crimes indictments were most likely to advance. He said the United States’ ability to gather evidence and help other countries do the same could prove valuable for such trials in the future.
“The statement itself does not advance accountability, but it does show that the government is taking concrete steps to support accountability,” Finucane said.
In Moscow, Putin responded to Western pressure with new retaliatory measures. He announced that “unfriendly countries” – including all EU countries and the United States – would now have to pay for their natural gas supplies in rubles.
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Putin said the move, due to be implemented within a week, could strengthen the ruble by increasing demand for the Russian currency. Slapping Western companies that have severed ties with Russia, he said, “Unlike some colleagues, we value our business reputation as a reliable partner and supplier.”
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday as analysts expected another tightening of energy supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil, the US benchmark, rose about 5 percent to trade near $115 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, sailed above $121.50 a barrel, up 5.4 percent.
The ruble has plummeted against major international currencies since the invasion began, and the Moscow Stock Exchange has been closed for a month. Russian officials announced that the market will partially reopen for trading in Russian stocks on Thursday.
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The Russian leadership also rejected a proposal by Poland to send an international peacekeeping mission to Ukraine, warning that such a move could have dangerous consequences.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the idea “very reckless” and told reporters in Moscow that a peacekeeping mission increases the risk of contact between Russian and NATO forces, which “could have clear consequences that would be difficult to remedy.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also condemned the proposal, arguing it would lead to a “direct clash between Russia and NATO forces, which everyone not only tried to avoid but which in principle should not take place”.
Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has spiraled into a grueling shambles in recent days, with invading forces appearing to be losing momentum and in some cases being forced to retreat. The Pentagon said Russia appears to be reinvigorating an offensive emanating from eastern Ukraine provinces under Separatist control — an apparent shift in strategy as the Kremlin’s assault continues to falter in other areas of the country.
Russia enjoys a base of support in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where separatists have asserted a degree of independence from Kyiv that has been officially recognized by Moscow but not by the West. Elsewhere in the country, however, the Russians met fierce opposition as they attempted to claim authority over population centers – to the point that they began establishing defensive positions outside the Ukrainian capital.
“We now understand that the Ukrainians pushed them back further east and northeast of Kyiv,” said a senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity under terms set by the Pentagon. “That’s a change from yesterday.”
The official said Russia had launched more than 1,200 missiles since the invasion began.
Ukrainian officials have been particularly excited by recent military victories in Makariv. But a visit there on Wednesday by a team of Washington Post journalists found the city was still contentious. According to the city’s mayor, Russian forces retained control of about 15 percent of Makariv after nearly three weeks of shifting battle lines.
There was no sign that any of the approximately 15,000 residents who fled were returning.
As the Post journalists entered the city, Ukrainian soldiers ordered them out and warned them about Russian Grad missiles. Minutes later there was the sound of falling shells and billows of black smoke billowed out over the city.
Raghavan reported from Makariv, Ukraine; Karoun Demirjian, Alex Horton, Paulina Villegas and Brittany Shammas in Washington, Emily Rauhala in Brussels and Matt Viser on Air Force One contributed to this report.